a deal with the devil
by ZIA-90
Summary: Never in her life had Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom, failed to understand something. Until recently that is. The reason behind it? Silena Beauregard and a deal she has 3 months to win, otherwise that will be her downfall.
1. waterfall

**CHAPTER 1 - waterfall**

Never in her life had Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom, failed to understand something. Until recently that is. She couldn't pinpoint the exact moment it happened, but it didn't change the fact that she was left feeling dumb, something that irritated her deeply.

Ever since they returned from their quest in search of Grover, things had become relatively calm in Camp Half-Blood, leaving the demi-gods to enjoy themselves by the beach. Unlike the others, Annabeth had used her free time to clear her mind, finding a peaceful spot in the woods near a waterfall. She had enjoyed the tranquillity and solitude, said solitude shattered when it appeared that it was also Silena's favourite spot.

Silena Beauregard, being the daughter of the goddess of love, never failed to infuriate Annabeth. Whether it'd be a sly comment about her lack of relationship with Percy, or the occasional giggles among her group when she happened to pass by. It didn't help that neither of them had a proper talk, instead choosing to settle for this animosity.

There were many things Annabeth actually hated regarding the French half-blood.

Her intoxicating perfume, that one could smell miles away.

Her occasional slips in her native language, which many found attractive.

Her ability to charm her way into anything she wanted…

To say that Annabeth was shocked when said vixen came out of nowhere and perched herself atop of a rock, would be an understatement. She carried what appeared to be a swimsuit, a towel and some solar cream.

"Are you following me?" she asked Silena, making her jump and quickly turn around, frightened. Her face immediately became cold, upon realizing who was there.

"Chase. If anything I should be the one concerned about you stalking me. I must say I'm impressed." she replied, with a raised eyebrow, "You even went as far as to invade my personal spot."

"I don't recall being told that anything here belonged to you, or to anyone, except the gods for that matter."

"Listen, why don't you just take your things and get out of this place before I lose my temper for good?" she ordered, with a bored look.

"And why don't you just shut up and accept that I won't say yes to anything you ask, unlike your pretenders, hm?" Annabeth angrily answered, taking two steps towards Silena. Neither of them had realized that they had inched closer throughout the discussion.

"My my Chase… If I had known that making you jealous was that entertaining I would have done it sooner! Cependant, laisse-moi te dire que le vert ne complimente pas ton teint de peau." she said, adding a wink after the French part.

Having studied French at school, Annabeth had a good idea of what that sentence meant. Not one to fall into the trap of flirting, she normally would have ignored the argument and left before things could escalate further. But she couldn't just let Silena get away with insinuating things like that.

"As if I could ever fall for someone as vain as yourself."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized in horror how it sounded, and how it could be interpreted as a challenge. Judging by the brief flash of hurt and surprise on her face, Silena had reached the same conclusion. Not one to back off from a challenge, she deliberately took some steps forward, making Annabeth shiver.

"Then you won't mind making a deal, chérie? Let's say that I have three months in order to seduce you and successfully make you fall in love with me. If I win, I get to boast about it in front of everyone, including Jackson, and you have to leave the camp for a week. Now if you win, then you get to have whatever you want from me, but it won't happen."

"This is ridiculous!" Annabeth exclaimed, with a nervous laugh.

"So I take it you're a coward then?" Silena asked with a satisfied smirk.

"Absolutely not! And fine, I'm in! But during those three months, you don't get to hook up with anyone, and if I win, then you'll have to keep it in your pants for the rest of the year."

"Deal"

"Deal"

Both of them shook hands, daring the other to look away, even when a spark of electricity shot through their arms, officialising the bet. Silena then slowly lifted Annabeth's right hand to her lips, kissing it, her eyes never leaving the girl's grey ones. Shocked, she could only stare after Silena as she sauntered into the groves, towards the Big House, leaving her more confused than ever.

From her spot in Olympus, Aphrodite could only shake her head at her daughter's antics, hoping that she knew what she was doing.


	2. dunes

**CHAPTER 2 - dunes**

Annabeth slowly made her way through the woods, replaying the recent encounter with Silena in her head, and trying to come up with an easy way out of the deal. At the moment, there was nothing she could do apart from keeping her distance with the girl and hoping that it would be enough. Fortunately, they hadn't any common friends nor did they share much classes together. However, knowing the daughter of Aphrodite, Annabeth was sure that it would take a lot more in order to stop her.

Upon reaching the climbing wall surrounded by young demigods, she was so lost in thoughts that she collided with a toned body, losing balance and almost falling to the ground, had it not been for the hand holding hers.

"Watch where you're going, Wise Girl!" laughed her friend, Percy Jackson, while helping her up.

His charming dimples, dark hair, green ocean eyes and athletic body were making him quite the popular boy among the camp, though it never affected her. Annabeth never really payed attention to rumors, especially those about her and Percy being secretly in love with each other. Not that she didn't thought about it once or twice, but rather because she couldn't think of him as a lover.

"Hey Seaweed, enjoyed the beach?" Annabeth asked him.

"Yes, but next time you have to come with us! And I won't accept any kind of excuse from you, okay?"

"You do know that I actually have to take some time away from you, because otherwise I would just end up murdering you, don't you?"

"Hey!" he exclaimed, feigning hurt, "And to think that I was about to ask you if you wanted to do something fun with me."

"Something fun?" Annabeth repeated while raising an eyebrow doubtfully.

"How about sparring?", and then added, "In the sand." his eyes gleaming with barely concealed mischief.

"I don't see why not. Come on then, let's get going or we won't be finished by dinner."

Unbeknownst to him, Percy offered her the perfect opportunity to forget everything that happened by the waterfall, if only for a few hours. They put on their armors and took place, facing each other, sword in hand.

* * *

They sparred for about 2 hours, taking breaks in between, before getting tired, all messy and sweaty from the exercise.

"I'm done for the day." announced Percy, falling dramatically to the ground, "Oh mighty daughter of Athena, please put me out of misery and end me once and for all!" he shouted, raising his fist and dropping his sword.

Annabeth approached him, offering her hand, but then got pulled in the sand, with no weapons and Percy standing over her.

"Any last words?" he asked, his eyes shimmering with amusement.

"That's cheating, you fucking loser!" she shouted, while glaring at him.

"Well, too bad it worked then!" he winked, using his power over the water, as the son of Poseidon, to send her a jet of water in the face before catching her in a vice and holding her above the ocean.

No matter how hard Annabeth struggled, the water just wouldn't let her go, which, coupled with Percy's laughter, annoyed her more than anything.

"Percy, I swear by the gods that if you don't release me very soon you're a dead man!" she shouted at him, with a murderous glare.

"Fine, as you wish Wise Girl."

He then let go of the water without any warning, causing Annabeth to fall head first into the ocean. As soon as she emerged on the surface, sputtering and coughing water, Percy started running for his life, climbing dunes and laughing all the way to the camp.

* * *

Neither of them saw the girl hidden behind a large dune, having witnessed the scene with an arrogant smirk, already scheming her next move. _'No'_, she thought as she kept walking, _'Percy Jackson would most certainly not be the reason I lose the bet'_. All she had to do now was find a way to ensure that he wouldn't be a problem to her.


	3. campfire

**CHAPTER 3 - campfire**

Later on, as Silena was passing by the Big House, she overheard Chiron talking to Dionysus, both being co-directors of Camp Half-Blood.

"[…] so that it would strengthen cohesion within the camp, what do you think?" Chiron asked.

"Do as you want, as long as I can nap without any of them disturbing me." Dionysus answered with his perpetual disinterested attitude.

"Fine, I will announce it before dinner." Chiron said, starting to walk to where the campfire was being held.

Silena choose to not make her presence known, opting for another route, before walking over to where the Aphrodite's teens were and plopping down on a log.

She looked around and saw that almost every Cabin was there; only the Hermes, Poseidon and Athena cabins weren't here. She looked up and saw Percy and Annabeth coming over then sitting together. _'A simple compromise'_, she thought irritated by their proximity.

"Warriors! Heroes!" Silena heard Chiron yell to everyone at camp. "Take a seat."

"Seems important." Drew, one of her half-sisters, said.

Silena just smiled at her, having overheard the previous conversation, and leaned up against the log while staring at Annabeth. She managed to catch Annabeth's eye and sent her a sultry wink, which made the girl blush and look away. _'Baby steps'_ she thought with a smirk.

It must have been a few minutes later when Drew nudged her. Chiron was about to announce some big news.

"This summer, we have decided to strengthen cohesion within the cabins but also within the camp. Especially after yesterday's fight between the Ares and the Apollo cabins, which started with a basketball. I know that the lack of action is making some of you stir-crazy. So, starting from tomorrow, we will play Capture the Flag!"

The demigods were literally shaking with excitement. If there was one thing they loved, it was that game.

"But," he said, gaining their attention again. "There will be different rules. I will be making teams of eight demigods, all from different cabins. During three days, each team will both have to protect their flag and steal one from another team. If a team has no flag at all, then it will be eliminated by the end of the day. At the end of those three days, only two teams will remain. The winner of the two will be the team that manages to catch the flag on the fourth day."

"Now, we will be supervising the event and if we see any attempt at cheating or helping other teams, then there will be consequences such as disqualification and extra chores. Otherwise the other rules still apply."

"As for the teams, each of your names will be placed in a jar and written on papers of different colors depending of your cabin. Tomorrow morning I will draw lots, which will determine the composition of the teams."

Anything else that Chiron was about to say was cut off by cheering. People were already starting to come up with the perfect strategy to adopt, while others were trying to guess who they were going to team up with.

_'This is just the perfect opportunity I've been looking for,'_ Silena mused, not quite believing her luck. _'I will just have to make sure that Chase is on my team and not with her useless boyfriend. What a coincidence it would be, indeed.'_

"Silena?" Drew asked, snapping her fingers in front of her face.

"Huh?"

"You okay? You zoned out on us." Drew inquired, trying to see where her mind had wandered.

"Of course. I was just daydreaming about my future victory I guess." she forced a smile, a bit irritated at being interrupted in her scheming. She shook off her clothes and followed the others in direction of the dining pavilion, leaving Drew's giggles behind her.

* * *

As she sat at her table, she couldn't help but take a swift glance at the Athena table. Annabeth sat at the end of the table and near the passage taken to go and make their offerings to the gods.

Silena thought for a minute before a plan worthy of Athena herself came to her mind. It was now Aphrodite cabin's turn to go.

_'Wish me luck, mum.'_ she prayed, getting up and heading over to the fire. Just as she neared Annabeth's table, she made a show of slowing down and slightly swaying on her feet. She put her head in her hands, stumbled forward and fell. She landed on something soft. 'Peach and rainy days' she thought with a smile as she caught a whiff of Chase's perfume.

"Is that Beauregard?"

"Did you see what happened to her?"

"[…] and then she fainted. Just like that."

Whispers could be heard from every table, but Silena focused on the sweet voice above her head.

"Silena?" Annabeth inquired, unsure of what to do with Silena's head on her lap. The latter cracked open one eye, then two, catching Annabeth's eye.

"It hurt." she whispered feigning pain.

"What hurt?" her savior asked, obviously confused.

"It hurt when I fell for you." she finished smugly with a subtle wink.

If looks could kill, she would certainly be off to Tartarus by now. But it was a risk worth taking.

She proceeded to stand up very slowly and in doing so she accidentally pressed Chase's right thigh. _'Sorry not sorry,'_ she considered while biting her lip ever so slightly. _'Who knew that she could have such well-defined thighs?'_

Silena then bent down to pick up her fallen plate. She straightened back up, and made her way to the large brazier, as if nothing ever happened to her.

"Stupid French people and their fucking acting skills." she heard Annabeth mutter behind her while furrowing her brow.

Said French girl shrugged it off with a smug smile. _'Oh Chase, just wait until tomorrow morning.'_


End file.
